A Semi-Conductor (SC) wafer may be heated or cooled, for example, as part of a deposition process, a baking process, or a thermal degas process, as are known in the art. Similar processes are applied at the FPD (Flat Panel Display) manufacturing lines. However such a thermal-treatment examples are not limited to the Wafers or the FPD substrate but to any other object, flat or not, thin or not.
Current systems for heating or cooling a wafer may place the wafer in contact with a surface of a chuck, which may be heated to a desired temperature. Thus, the heat may be transferred to the wafer via contact with the chuck, i.e., via a conductive heat transfer mechanism.
A relatively long “raise-up” time period may be required in order to bring the chuck to a steady state temperature. Thus, since increasing/decreasing the temperature of the chuck may require a relatively long time period, it may be required to use several pre-heated chucks in a process requiring applying different temperatures to the wafer.
The distribution of the temperature of the wafer may not be homogeneous due to hot or cold spots, which may occur as a result of at least partial contact between the chuck and the wafer. Irregularities on the surface of the wafer being in contact with the chuck may also result in non-homogeneous heating or cooling of the wafer.
Furthermore, the contact between the wafer and the chuck may result in damages, e.g., backside contamination and/or Electro Static Damage (ESD) to the wafer. Slippage between the wafer and the chuck, resulting in backside contamination and/or scratches, may occur due to thermal expansion or contraction of wafer during heating or cooling.